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ভূমিকা

Long before children write a sentence or solve a sum, they talk. Through stories, questions, jokes, and play, young children begin to make sense of the world — out loud. In fact, the talk that fills an Early Years classroom is not just background noise or social chatter. It is learning in action.

This page explores how talk shapes thinking, supports self-regulation, and helps children learn through play. It draws on research and classroom experience to show why talk is the curriculum in early childhood — and how small changes can make it even more powerful.

Key Ideas and Evidence

Talk Builds the Brain

Language doesn’t just help children communicate — it helps them ভাবুন. Neuroscience shows that when children engage in conversational turn-taking with adults, the language areas of their brains become more active and better connected. What matters most isn’t how many words a child hears, but whether they are invited to respond and be heard.

This “serve and return” talk builds stronger memory, reasoning, and language skills. In multilingual settings like Bangladesh, this means responding in the child’s most confident language — Bangla, Sylheti, Chittagonian — allows for deeper talk and clearer thinking.

Talk Builds Self-Regulation

From a young age, children begin to use language to organise their behaviour. A child saying “No touch” or “I want the blue one” is practising self-control. Over time, this “thinking out loud” becomes internal — the child learns to guide their actions silently.

In classrooms where talk is encouraged, children are more likely to solve problems peacefully, explain plans, and wait their turn — all signs of growing self-regulation.

Playful Talk = Serious Learning

Play isn’t separate from learning — it’s where learning begins. And talk is everywhere in play:

• Inventing stories
• Negotiating who does what
• Asking questions
• Talking to toys and dolls
• Describing what’s happening

Pretend play supports narrative thinking, vocabulary, and imagination. Some studies show that children’s language is actually more complex during free play than during formal lessons.

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Small Things, Big Impact

You don’t need fancy materials to support talk. It starts with noticing what children are already saying and helping them go one step further.

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Active Ingredients: What Makes Talk Work

These five elements are effective even in large, busy, or low-resource classrooms:

“They speak more when I start in Bangla. Then I say the English word too.” – Teacher, Comilla

Real-Life Example: Minara’s Morning Circle

Location BRAC pre-primary centre, Sylhet    শিক্ষক Minara Begum, 9 years’ experience

Minara’s classroom is a single open-air space with mats on the ground. Her first group of 15 learners were shy and quiet. “They copied the rhymes,” she says, “but they didn’t speak much outside that.”

After attending a workshop on classroom talk, Minara began a new habit: one daily open question. Simple things:

• “What made you smile yesterday?”
• “What colour did you wear today?”
• “What did you see on your way here?”

At first: silence. Then one child said “cow.” Another: “rain.” A week later: “A goat in a red ribbon!” The whole group laughed — and others wanted to speak too.

She added a puppet, “Mithu the Parrot,” who asks one child per day a question and “whispers” encouragement.

“Now they run in with things to say. I never thought they had so many thoughts inside!”

Minara says she still has days when talk falls flat. “But I’ve learned it’s not about me talking থেকে them — it’s helping them talk for themselves.”

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